US Air Force Elephant Walk Shows US Military Airpower in Japan: Photos

Dating from the Second World War, the term “Walk Elephant” referred to the mass of military planes in mass before taking off in unique formations like a herd of elephants that walk on the tail trunk.

Elephant walks demonstrate not only operational power and preparation, but also lead to military pilots in wartime operations which involve launching a large number of outings in a short time.

Elephant walks generally involve a large number of planes, and Kadena's air base event on Okinawa has no exception – 53 Air Force and Navy planes, as well as two army patriotic air defense batteries, participated in the track.

The elephant walk could be the biggest to have ever taken place in Japan, almost double the size of the 33 screen in the air last year at the base, which included Raptors F-22 and F-16 Fight Falcons.

The Kadena Elephant Walk is among the most important in the US Air Force, going beyond elephants in 2020 at Hill Air Force Base de l'Utah which only included F-35A Lightning II planes.

In April 2023, 80 planes were displayed in a walk of elephants at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas.

In Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Northern Carolina, a demonstration of 70 aerials consisted only of F-5th Strike Eagles, which makes it the largest walk of unique elephants.

The fighter planes were more than half of the elephant walking, with 24 F-35AS, eight F-15th and two grunts of the EA-18 navy.

Six HH-60 pave Hawk Rescue helicopters led the herd, as well as two MQ-9 Reaper drones, which are used for surveillance and precision strikes.

Two MC-130J CARGAison plans Commando II SPECIAL OPERATIONS AND SIX SUPPLY AIRS KC-135 Stratotanker raised the formation back.

Three spy planes also appeared in elephant walking-an E-3G Sentry radar surveillance plane, an intelligence plane for joint RC-135 Rivet signals and a P-8 posedidon operated by the Navy for the maritime patrol and recognition.

The formation was flanked by two Patriot Missiles of the American army MIM-104, who proved to be vital assets in the American air defense strategy against threats of Chinese missiles.

The demonstration of air power on Okinawa was an iteration of the Beverly Herd exercise, an annual military exercise that prepares us and the forces combined with the Pacific.

Aside from the elephant walk, the rescue and maintenance squadrons stationed in Kadena also practiced damage to the surveillance of an aerodrome, and the Air Force engineers worked with naval specialists to eliminate unploded simulated munitions from the track.

At the Marine Corps Futenma Air Station, about 11 miles from Kadena, the F-35 fighter squadrons of the Air Force Eielson base also train in concepts of fighting war and maneuvers focused on agile combat, which is designed to increase lettality and survival in combat.

Military exercises occur while China degenerates its military presence in the Pacific above Taiwan, the autonomous island that Beijing claims its own.

“A walk of elephants like this sends a message that you cannot ignore,” said the chief chief sergeant. Brandon Wolfgang, 18th Wing Command Chief Master Sergeant, said in a statement. “It shows our aviators, our allies and our opponents that we are united, capable and ready.”

China's rapid military accumulation has fueled tensions with other American allies on the first island channel, which includes Japan and the Philippines. The latter nation also has territorial differences in progress with China, mainly at the Sea of ​​southern China.

Beverly's herd exercises were part of a series of military exercises in the United States and its allies organize Indo-Pacific theater to counter the growth of Chinese aggression in the region.

Earlier this month, the United States and the Philippines organized a joint exercise, Balikatan, in a strategic strangulation in the south of Taiwan. China has criticized the military exercises, accusing the United States and the Philippines of the use of Taiwan as an excuse to “cause tension and confrontation”.

“This kind of teamwork and presence is exactly the way we maintain deterrence in Indo-Pacific,” Wolfgang said about the Kadena Elephant Walk.